Ayumu Hirano wins the long-awaited gold medal in Snowboard HP. Surprised the world by succeeding a super-difficult trick without mistakes (Photo: YUTAKA/Afro Sports)
Ayumu Hirano (23, TOKIO Inkarami) scored 96.0 points in the third run and won the come-from-behind win at the Beijing Olympics snowboard men's halfpipe on the 11th at Yuncho Snow Park H&S Stadium. He performed his big move "Triple Cork 1440 (3 vertical and 4 horizontal rotations with the axis shifted diagonally)" in all three runs. Scott James (27, Australia) won the silver medal with 92.50 points in his second run. The bronze medal went to Jan Scherel (27, Switzerland). His younger brother Kaiho Hirano (19, Nihon Univ.) ranked ninth. Yuto Totsuka (20, Yonex) was 10th, and Ruka Hirano (19, Taisei Gakuin University) was 12th.
Finally, Ayumu Hirano, who skated without mistakes, raised his right hand high and was convinced of the gold medal. Her score is 96.0 points. Marking 92.50 points in the second run, he surpassed Scott James who was standing in first place and finally reached the top. At the Pyeongchang Olympics, Ayumu Hirano, who allowed the last skater, Sean White (USA), to win the silver medal, went on the opposite side this time. However, I don't think he was calm until he scored. "There are 3 finals." Ayumu Hirano made clean triple cork 1440s on first hits in all three innings. Although the first run failed in the final landing, the second run completed the routine without any mistakes. However, the score did not improve as much as expected, and it was 91.75 points. Jonas Brewer, an American with more than 20 years of refereeing experience, scored 89 points, not even 90. At this time, Ayumu Hirano must have been confused. The triple cork 1440 is a technique that only he tried and decided this time. What's more, he included 3 quadruples in his routine and landed them all. I've never seen it on the Olympic stage, but in a regular competition, it wouldn't be strange for the athletes to protest violently at the judges' seats, asking, "Where are you looking?"
However, my friends immediately expressed their thoughts on SNS. Ariel Gold, who won the bronze medal in the women's halfpipe at the Pyeongchang Olympics and has won many medals in the X Games, tweeted, "The worst judge I've ever seen," and has long been the MC of the X Games. Sal Masekera, who served as a judge and is known in the world of board sports, also asked, "Who is the judge? I have a lot of questions." Among them, Todd Richards, who won many big events such as the X Games from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s and was a commentator for NBC in the United States, sharply judged, "91.75? Isn't that a mistake?" criticized. Perhaps because he was so excited that he didn't know what to say, US NBC stopped broadcasting and went to commercials (CM). However, even after the commercial ended, he said, "I've been in this world for a long, long time, and I've seen a lot. Tell me, where was the deduction?" Even after the next commercial, "America's rating is 89 points? 80 points? What's that? Even though you landed the most difficult trick in the history of the halfpipe? I've never questioned a halfpipe judge so much. !” he yelled. I have known him for a long time, and when he came to Japan in the 90's, I accompanied him on a shoot. I have been interviewed many times in America. He's usually calm, and if anything, he's the quiet type. It must have been a big deal for Richards to get so hot. In fact, this time around, the men's slopestyle was also criticized for the judges. Max Parrott (Canada) won the race, but when he flew with the first kicker, he scored CAB 16 (frontside 1620) but didn't grab the board. I missed it. The responsible referee (Slovenia), in an interview with the US snowboarding media, cited the camera angle and the need to make instant judgments as factors for the "misjudgment", but as for Ayumu Hirano's second run, No clear explanation.